A little more than a full year in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately given the official approval as the world of Formula One's most recent entry for 2026. Building the organization from nothing has entailed a hectic operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 arrives on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Australia
At the season finale of the championship to be held in the US, with around a hundred days to go before they make their debut for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a monumental endeavor, they are conscious there will never be adequate time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic project in the spring of 2023 not long after it was established, when the organization were without even an approved entry. He has been at its core since then and has a wry smile when considering the ride.
“There might be a brief moment thinking back at what you’ve done and say: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “Then the next minute you consider: ‘Yes, there is still a great deal to do.’”
An Unprecedented Challenge
The CTO enjoyed success at the Renault team in Alonso's victorious campaigns of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the challenge of bringing the all-American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the owner, GM, into F1.
“Establishing an grand prix team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you don’t get the chance to transform organizational mindset.”
With each day that passes focus are increasingly concentrated on the impending decisive point in Melbourne and targets are being handled.
“One must presume that any incoming team joining the grid is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon stated recently and while Nick Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” he emphasizes. “So we turn up and we operate well. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender performing the right things on the circuit. When we’ve shown that we’re really credible, then we want to show progression subsequently.”
Racing Talent and Hiring Push
In late summer they recruited Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a duo distinguished for their vast knowledge in performing at the front in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and the Mercedes team, and Valtteri Bottas expressed the attitude of determined optimism.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” he said. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be probably a tough opening, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. I am confident with this setup, with this team, this staff, there’s no reason why we can't manage to progress rapidly up to the pace and taste victory.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in overdrive, with personnel now up to in excess of 400 and scheduled to reach the target of 600 members rapidly. In addition to their present headquarters at the UK base, the organization are in the midst of finishing an main base at the Fishers location in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are building the facility to manufacture the 2029 engine, scheduled for 2029 – until then they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a intricate organization, contrary to the movement in the sport for more centralization, and has inspired the fresh organizational mindset to which Nick Chester alluded.
Apollo Inspiration
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo project,” said Lowdon ahead of the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We’re realistic, we understand how challenging it is. The schedules, are extremely compressed. OK, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, instead of the traditional management structure, a flat management structure akin to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of project teams all focusing on various components of the mission in a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a procedure where someone has a problem and they raise it up to their team leader, that leader consults a supervisor in another department, it goes back down the chain, the process is very slow,” explains Chester. “Therefore we enable team members to really get on with it. Eliminating managerial sign-off for everything is far more efficient and more rapid.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this nimble strategy will be tested in the intensity of Grand Prix in 2026 and there is a considerable amount on the line for the sport, too. Cadillac have taken on as their test driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
